


Conquering a World

by SilencedLittleBirdy (FreeformFay72)



Category: Original Work, humans are weird - Fandom
Genre: Aliens, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Humans Are Weird, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Outer Space, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-12-26 16:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12063135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeformFay72/pseuds/SilencedLittleBirdy
Summary: What happens when aliens abduct four households to settle a world for them?





	1. Chapter 1

A ship from the Pqncallaxis Dominion arrived on a Tuesday, at four in the morning, in the field behind my house, waking myself, my roommate, and our two dogs, three cats, twelve chickens, plus one angry rooster.

I scrambled out of bed, going for the rifle. My roommate, Ava, had a handgun that she was licensed to use, but sometimes a rifle was a little more convincing for aliens than the small size of the gun she carried. You never really knew with aliens.

“The residents of this domain will exit the domain and consult with us.”

I loaded the rifle, “Consult with them. Tch.”

“Fay?”

“Just getting the rifle. What do you think? Should we release the hounds?” I asked Ava, listening for a moment as the dogs kept barking.

“Right, because Gigi’s such a terror.”

“I know. She’ll be in hiding the moment we come down with our guns. Sara though…”

“She’d probably lick them to death.”

“I’m pretty sure dog saliva is deadly to some aliens. I swear, if they crushed my apple trees…”

“Really? You’re worried about trees?”

“I like apples! You do too. They might have destroyed your pear trees, you know.”

She wrinkled her nose, “Or the chickens.”

We went down side by side and peered around the corner so we could see out the back doors through the curtains the dogs had managed to push aside.

“What kind of aliens are those?” I asked in a whisper.

She shrugged, “I’m a secretary, not an alien expert. You’re the one who follows the updates more.”

“Because my brother is excited about it. But I don’t study them like I study plants.” I shook my head, “Maybe we should call someone.”

“Like who?”

“The police?”

“And tell them what? Aliens have landed in our backyard and want to consult with us? We don’t even know what that means.” 

The realization that we were both too chicken to go out just yet is what made me decide to do that. Someone had to do something. 

“Alright, I’m going to go out. You have to get to the kitchen and grab the sprayer with the mint oil in it. Mint is corrosive to ninety percent of the alien species that have come into contact with earth.” At least…I was mostly sure. Pretty certain. There was a good chance.

“Are you sure?”

“No, but…it’s that or they do something bad. Confidence. I’ll put on an air of confidence.” I hugged her quickly, just in case, “If they kill me, call the police and get into the basement. Then tell my family…well…you know.”

She was looking at me like I was insane, “You’re insane.”

See, thought so.

“Finally, someone uses the right word.” I muttered, then put the butt of the rifle into the crook of my shoulder like my dad had taught me and ordered the dogs, “Get.” 

Ava got to the door, “Wait, I’ll go out with you.”

“And if they aren’t here peacefully?”

“Then we’ll die together?”

Neither of us wanted the other to die, but we also didn’t want to die ourselves.

“Why couldn’t they have gone somewhere else?” I muttered, “Open the door.”

She hesitated, then did as I told her.

I stepped out, making sure the dogs couldn’t get past me, “What do you want?”

“To consult with the residents of this domain.”

“Again I ask, what do you want?” I squinted, even though I was wearing my glasses, “And could you kill the lights? They’re a little much for four in the morning.”

“Apologies.”

All of their lights turned off, so the only light was my porch light.

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, then reopened them, trying to help my eyes adjust more quickly, “Right? What is this about consulting the residents?”

Ava came out with her hand gun out and the spray bottle in her robe pocket.

The alien, a weird thing that looked like a mix between a praying mantis and a Jaaarskil, stepped just barely into the light, limping as he kept the rooster away with one leg. “We wish to hire the expertise of a select few humans to help us with settling our latest acquisition.”

“No thanks.” Ava said, “Try someone else.”

A green light came from the device the alien was holding, “You are the perfect specimens for us. Return to your residence.” It made a disgusting clicking and chomping sound, like someone chewing with their mouth full and some rocks, then hurried back toward the ship, trying to get away from our rooster.

I arched an eyebrow, “What the frak just happened?”

Ava shook her head, “No clue. Do we go back inside?”

“Well, we definitely have to report it to the alien incidence association. No way are they using me as part of their settlement projects.” I glared at the ship.

The same green light came out of it, bathing out house, our property, and some of the fields around us in it.

“Um…”

Ava pulled me inside, “The basement.”

I nodded and rushed down there, calling the dogs and cats.

It was like an earthquake as we huddled in the spot we normally did for tornadoes.

Then it stopped.

I slowly uncurled, hoping my hands would stop shaking, and pushed myself to my feet. “I’m afraid of what we’ll find up there.”

Ava handed me the rifle again, “Let’s check everything over, then we can go back to bed.”

I nodded and we crept up the stairs. I didn’t want to spend too much time in our basement anyway. I swear it was haunted.

Ava froze when she got to the top of the stairs. “The embassy better throw a fit.”

“What? Why? What did they do?” I climbed up behind her and peeked in the direction she was looking.

Through the glass in the front door we could see the inside of an alien ship.

I turned around and went back downstairs, “I’m going to sleep with the ghosts.”

Even being more superstitious than me, Ava followed and we crashed on the pullout bed couch. Both staring at the ceiling.

“I thought we were past abductions.” I murmured, petting Sara’s head. She was stressed. So was Gigi. And the cats.

Which was evidenced by the fact that they were getting along with the dogs.

“We’ve been abducted.” Ava said, shaking her head. “This feels like a weird dream.”

The house shook again, and we grabbed onto the bed.

“Now what?!” I yelled, suddenly fed up.

I got up the moment the shaking stopped and marched up the stairs, out the front door…

Our front yard of green grass blended into purple grass, then back to green a ways away as it met someone else’s house. I could see where that person’s yard stopped and the flora of this planet started, because the grass ended and the tree trunks of this planet were in various shades of blue, with leaves of various shades of purple as well. 

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” I whispered to myself, looking up to where the sun shone. “Yellow sun. Okay. Initial assessment is—if they transported our yard and everything that was in our yard—that the plants and animals should be able to survive. I think. Maybe. The air is breathable, always a plus, so that should be fine. Plants make food from light and they have light. We have chicken feed to last us a while, at least while we let one of the chickens experiment with the bugs.”

“Fay? Why are you whispering?” Ava came out behind me.

“This.” I waved a hand to everything in front of me.

She stared, speechless.

“RESIDENTS OF THE CHOSEN DOMAINS! YOU WILL ASSIST IN SETTLING THIS WORLD! MAIL WILL BE COLLECTED AND DROPPED OFF ON TUESDAYS! GOOD DAY AND MAY THE GODS OF THE PQNXALLAXIS DOMAIN SMILE UPON YOU!”

I groaned, “Can I use that swear word now?”

Ava slowly shook her head.

“Why the heck did they choose us?” I let out a yell of frustration. “You know what? Fine. Just, fine! I’m going to see if anybody is home.”

Ava kept up but didn’t say anything.

I rang the doorbell of the other house, then looked back at my house.

Ava nudged me and pointed to the one side.

There was another house just barely visible through the trees.

I pounded on the door, “Hello?!”

Finally it was being unlocked.

“Is it over?” was the guy’s first question.

“The transport to another planet? You could say that.” Ava found her voice again. Knew it wouldn’t stay gone for long.

He looked past us, then shook his head, “These aliens are getting crazier by the month. Don’t they realize the hell that they’re bringing to themselves?”

“Honestly, I don’t think they do. Considering they put us here, I’d say they’re worried about poisonous food or weather or creatures.” I chewed the inside of my cheek, “I’ll have to start studying the plants right away. See if I can figure out some sort of lab to do tests in. Find my gardening gloves and start collecting samples.”

Ava glanced back to our house, “Start with the gazebo.”

I nodded, “In the meantime, we should see how the other people are faring.”

“Other people?” The guy asked.

Ava pointed to the left.

He looked over, then shook his head, “Let me get dressed and grab my gun. Let my family know I’m going with you.”

I glanced down at my elephant pajama pants, “Good idea. Meet in the purple grass between our houses.”

He nodded and closed the door.

Ava and I headed back to our house, going and getting dressed.

I grabbed the Gigi’s leash and hooked her to it, “Come on, hon.”

Sara got excited as well, but she wasn’t as good as Gigi on the leash. 

Ava came down, “At least grab the baseball bat your brother insisted we have.”

I nodded and got it from my closet. Going to see the other humans that were in the same predicament wasn’t necessarily dangerous, but we didn’t know what we would stumble upon or how freaked out the other humans were. It was best if we came prepared.

Ava led the way back out, looking a little grumpy. She got that way when she didn’t get enough sleep.

We stopped in the purple grass, and I examined it while Gigi sniffed it.

I frowned, “It’s softer than our grass.” I broke off a piece, and smelled it. “Not bad. Smells like lemon pine-sol.”

“We don’t know if things on this planet are toxic in any way and you’re breaking the grass and smelling it?”

“I’m going to lick it too. Don’t give me that look. Last time you gave me that look was when I ate wintergreen berries on our hike. I knew what they were. I knew what they were then. This is like our grass close as I can tell. Would it have killed the…whatever race of aliens this is to give us some sort of information about this planet?”

“Kidnapping us might get them killed. Wonder if they know that.” Ava was looking at the sky.

“On the bright side, we won’t have to avoid Weird Guy on Sunday.” I touched the blade of purple grass to my tongue. I’d have to wait to see if my tongue started to tingle. Tasted lemony.

“That’s what you’re thinking about?” She looked at me, then cringed, “Did you really just taste the grass?”

“We’re going to have to test everything, eventually we’ll run out of food for the dogs, the chickens, the cats…and our fruit trees and gardens will only do so much.”

“Glad we were planning on expanding the garden,” Ava said, looking back at our house and yard. “Hopefully what corn came with us continues to grow as well.”

“It’ll also depend on what the other people have going in their yards. And how many other people there are. Those stupid aliens have put us in a real mess.”

“You don’t say,” She replied dryly. “Here’s that guy.”

I looked up, “Should probably find out his name.”

“You ask.”

“Me?”

“Hey, you guys look ready for some sort of fight.” He gave a sheepish smile, “That’s what my family is doing. I just grabbed the closest thing that resembled a weapon.”

“Golf club works, my cousin got a nasty concussion and five stitches from a golf club once. By the way, I’m Fay Walker and she’s Ava Ryling.”

“Chad Findlay, I’ll introduce you to my parents and brother later. We should head over to the other houses.” He rested the club on his shoulder, “Let’s go see how deep this river of trouble runs.”


	2. Chapter 2

There were only three other houses, putting us at a total of thirteen people. The youngest was a 5th grader, and the oldest was Chad’s father, Mike Findlay, who was about 58. We had two construction workers, two landscapers, an OB-GYN, a nurse, a farmer, and a Veterinarian. Add to that Ava as a secretary with excellent managerial skills, and my weird combo of degrees as a Forester and Botanist and we had enough skills to allow us to survive for a good stretch of time if we worked together.

“You’re a what?” Chad asked.

“Forester…and botanist. I deal with plants and nature. The purple grass here tastes like lemon, and smells like lemon pine-sol, if you were curious.” I stroked Gigi’s ears, keeping myself distracted. “Guess they actually had some method to their madness. A plant person, an animal person, two medical personnel, two construction workers, a farmer, and someone with excellent organizational skills. They plan for us to be out here. To conquer this world for them.”

“They said settle it. I don’t know how much more settled we can get, other than getting a lot more food in the works.” Patricia Ledford, the veterinarian, was holding her youngest daughter, Kelsey—the fifth grader. She seemed to have a nervous disposition.

Granted, normally I couldn’t form a coherent sentence when I was in a group this size. I was just so…done.

“It’ll take us a while to figure out what’s edible here. We’ve got some stray corn that came with our house, and our vegetable patch. We also have a bunch of seeds. Our garden needs to be weeded, desperately, but I can probably identify the weeds and discern what can be used first. I know we have some food. Generator is solar powered, sump pump is powered by the water that runs through it…not that it matters since we have no idea what they did with the pipes…”

We were in the Findlay’s house since they had the biggest area to gather in, and I could tell that their construction business had been successful.

Walter McNeal, the OB-GYN and single dad of Juliet, who was a freshman in high school, shook his head, “We don’t even know if we’ll be here long. What if we get put back tomorrow?” He was rubbing his forehead.

I glanced at Ava, wondering if she remembered the story that my brother had told us of the…problem that came about when some aliens had taken an entire city. By the time it had been returned…twenty years had passed.

Chad shook his head, “The Fraxaplilliiannun race stole a city thirty years ago, it took twenty years for the government to get them back and the city was a major thing. Four random houses and thirteen people? Low priority, especially since none of us are politicians or celebrities. None of us are working on government projects. We’re…”

“Dispensable.” Ava got up and got another scoop of ice cream.

“Thirteen people. We have to survive until we do get out of here.” Mike Findlay frowned at the ceiling, “We’ll have to see if the wood here burns. We’ve got enough to power our wood heater for a couple months, but we have no idea how long we’ll need it.”

I glanced around at everyone, then shrugged, “No point in sitting around, I’m going to go set up a place to test the local flora. Here’s hoping that tests that worked on earth will work here.” I got up and headed for the door.

“You should assess the plant life we have from home first.” Ava caught my arm, “I’ll start looking at the pantry, fridge, and freezer, but you’re better with plants than landscapers would be. You’re always ranting about how landscapers use invasive species.”

I tilted my head in a sort of nod, “True, never thought I’d be grateful for invasive species like the ones in three out of four of the yards. I’ll let you all guess which yard doesn’t have invasive plant species. Fine, I’ll look at what plants are in the yards, make a list and then give it to you. Then I’ll set up a testing lab.”

“I’ll go with you, write down what you list. It should make things faster.”

“I have a list of the trees and flowers planted here,” Chad offered.

“Give it. I’ll still need to look at the weeds, but that should at least help.” I waited while he got that.

“I can look at the animals we have, make sure they’re all healthy before moving on to trying to find local animals.” Patricia offered.

Ava nodded, “Just be careful going into our house. We have three cats, and a dog in there.”

Patricia nodded.

“I suppose I should see what medical supplies I have,” Walter rubbed his head again.

“I’ll help.” Beatrice Findlay said softly. She was the nurse. “Permission to go through the rest of your medical supplies?”

“Go ahead, anything to help.” John Ledford put an arm around his wife.

“I’ll look at the houses, make sure they’re sound. Same with the barns or sheds. Andy can help,” Mike said, nodding to his younger son.

“Juliet, Kevin, can you watch the girls?”

Kevin nodded, “Sure mom, we’ll keep them in the basement. Safest place right now, right?”

We were all nodding.

“Yeah, we can have them color or something for a while. And I have a portable DVD player that should still be fully charged. We can at least get two movies out of it.” Juliet got up, pulling Talia up with her.

“I’ll walk them over,” John told the rest of us. “Just holler if you need me to do anything.”

I nodded sharply, taking the list from Chad and glancing over it. “Norway maple, of course.” I headed out the door with Ava right behind me.

“Were you serious?”

“About?”

“Making the aliens pay?” She asked, glancing back toward the house.

“Mostly,” I responded, “But I guess I was also just thinking about how…what the heck is that?”

She followed my gaze to the monstrous pink and purple fuzzy thing that was about the size of an elephant, and looked like a dolphin had grown legs and fur, gotten a rhino horn, and a second mouth, as well as a tongue the size of a compact car.

“Heavens to betsy…” I breathed, “Patricia! Get out here!”

Everyone came. Everyone stared.

“Mom…how do we find out if it’s friendly?” Talia Ledford asked. She was in seventh grade, so about twelve years old.

“We see if it attacks us.”

Ava nudged me, “Fred is coming around the house.”

I groaned, “Stupid rooster, we need him.”

Fred Astaire, our rooster, spotted the large thing and crowed, then started his attack on the thing that was about a thousand times larger.

The thing followed Fred’s movement, then went back to sniffing our garage.

Okay…thirty seconds. Thirty seconds of insane bravery. I just needed thirty seconds.

I went forward, slowly. Still holding my baseball bat.

The creature must have smelled me, it looked my way, then boomed closer.

I looked up at it, still moving myself.

It moved when I kept moving, staying a few feet away at all times.

Finally, I stopped, and turned toward it.

It moved closer, just a bit. Then carefully leaned down to smell me.

I held out a hand.

It didn’t move back.

I stepped forward and touched it’s furry snout. It was like those super fuzzy blankets.

It finally straightened up, and walked off, careful to avoid me and Fred. It lumbered into the forest, making a path that we could easily follow.

I turned back to the others, “Good news…it didn’t eat me.”

They were all looking at me like I was insane.

I was starting to think they were right.

Ava came over, “That was stupid.”

“I know,” I said, “I’m scared out of my mind, I think. Let’s focus on our job. I need to focus on something.” Plants were a good distraction. They were what would probably be keeping us alive. For once it was a good thing we hadn’t waited to get out canning supplies. Ava had wanted to do pickles and try to can tomatoes, maybe pickle some peppers.  
Make salsa. 

Ava pushed me toward the house, “Come on, before we do anything, let’s put some of our canned foods into the panic room. I’ll explain why later.”

I nodded, “I think I understand why, but it’s best if we get on the same page later.”

We moved the canned goods that had the furthest expiration dates into the panic room and closed it off.

“You still have the pain killers from getting your wisdom teeth out?” Ava asked.

I frowned, then nodded, “Yeah, they’re in my nightstand. Think we need to put them in here, for emergencies?”

“I’m expecting full blown panic.” She froze, “What’s that sound?”

I shook my head and darted up the stairs and outside.

“RESIDENTS WILL WELCOME DOCUMENTARIAN OF THE PQNXALLAXIS DOMAIN! GOOD DAY AND MAY THE GODS OF THE PQNXALLAXIS DOMAIN SMILE UPON YOU!”

I froze as an alien transported to the spot in between our yard and the Findlay’s.

This one was different from the species that had been in our back yard earlier today. That one had been like a praying mantis and a Jaaarskil had a demon. This one was more like a Triwlkaan, which was like a gecko and a springer spaniel, but it also looked like the cheetah-like race of Riichalka.

“Greetings, I am Traaiillooonn. I am a documentarian for the Pqnxallaxis Domain.” The alien had a breathy voice, and finished it’s statement with a whistle.

“That’s not a word,” I said, officially fed up.

“Pardons?”

“Documentarian is not a word. You’re a documenter, not a documentarian.” I folded my arms, “Let me guess, we’re supposed to feed you and house you? Well, guess again. We were brought here against our will, we’re not going to cooperate with anything you try to force on us.”

“Interesting first statement,” Traaiillooonn murmured, marking something on it’s device. “But did not your government authorize the Pqnxallaxis Domain to select their team to settle this world?”

“What?” Ava asked.

“It says in the Richter Accords, the Pqnxallaxis domain may select a team of four households and all things therein to settle planets of interest provided they give the information previously collected to the residents selected.” Traaiillooonn was consulting it’s device.

I closed my eyes, realizing exactly what the alien was saying. 

We would never go home.


	3. Chapter 3

Traaiillooonn clicked his mandible fangs with his claw, “So you plan to test these plants by licking them?”

“No, well, eventually, yes. But right now I’m testing the plant samples against chemicals. That’s why I was telling you you shouldn’t be in here if you don’t have a mask. I don’t know what will happen when I test these plants against these chemicals. They could have extremely toxic reactions.” I took a dropper of hydrogen peroxide, ready to put it on a fruit I had found.

“What?! You’re going to test it without knowing the reactions?!”

I rolled my eyes, “How else am I supposed to figure it out?”

“But…it could be deadly!”

“I’m aware,” I responded through gritted teeth, just barely biting back an insult. “But being on an unfamiliar planet is just as deadly, so is starvation, dehydration, and hypothermia.”

“You’re going to risk your life to test a plant?”

I didn’t bother responding, just let the peroxide drop onto the plant.

It just bubbled the way it normally did.

I shrugged, and made note of the initial reaction. Then I lowered the mask and smelled. Just smelled like peroxide.

I started another sample, to test with a small sample of iodine that was given me for experiments, “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Meaning, if you’re too afraid to stay here, get out. I don’t need you shadowing me, I don’t need you distracting me. I have to be precise, and able to focus so that I don’t miss anything.”

“But I must record all discoveries and advancements made by you and the other humans as you conquer and settle this planet, including the scientific methods used to accustom yourselves with the workings of the planet. Also, I am told to take stock orders.”

I froze before I could squeeze the dropper. “Stock orders? What does that mean?”

“Well, the Pqncallaxis Dominion is aware of the needs of humans, and that all supplies for your survival may not be present at the current moment in time, and that it takes time to learn what is consumable. Just because we want you to settle the world does not mean that you must suffer while doing so.”

“Looonny-boy, you should have started with that bit of information.” I put the dropper back in the bottle of iodine. “Do you realize how panicked humans get when they’re ripped away from everything they’ve known? You’re lucky we didn’t kill you the moment you landed. I still wasn’t sure whether I wanted to try and poison you or not. Come on, we have to tell the others. I need real equipment, we need actual medical supplies, and we need ammunition. If something attacks us we need to be able to defend ourselves.”

Traaiillooonn’s whiskers twitched, “You would poison another species?”

“Humanity does all sorts of weird things when under pressure.”

“Humans are a violent race.”

“But you’ve got to admit, we’re excellent at keeping out of the intergalactic wars.”

“This is a truth.”

“So, is your name just Traaiillooonn?”

“My name was judged to be too difficult for humans to pronounce.”

“I’d still like to hear it.”

“Ecxatraaiillooonnonkrisskavafliskvan.”

I frowned as I thought it over. “Ecxa-traaiillooonn-kriss-kava-flisk-van. I can see why you’d go by a nickname.”

“What is this nickname?”

“A shortening of your full name, or some other name that you are called by friends and family. My mom calls me Cocoa Butt. Nobody else. It’s her nickname for me.”

“Ah, so you consider Traaiillooonn a nickname for me.”

“Exactly.”

“Interesting. I shall have to make note of this practice in my observations. There is not much information on humans in the Pqncallaxis Dominion’s records. Is it true that humans have three forms of mating rituals? Kara-oke, Dance, and consumption of alcohol? Sometimes mixed together.”

I started laughing. “I wouldn’t exactly call them mating rituals. Humans have many different practices that lead to…mating.” 

“Such as?”

“Um…you know, it would take another lifetime to describe all of the different rituals. Let’s just suffice to say the things you named are activities that potential mates would do together for fun, or to get to know each other a little more.” I didn’t want to delve into that well of awkward. “Ava, get everyone together. Traaiillooonn just told me something important.”

She shot a glare my way, probably for being to loud. “Important enough that you made me lose count?”

“More important. Traaiillooonn just told me that we can order supplies.”

She set the can of soup on a pile. “You couldn’t have told me this before I started going through the pantry?”

“I just found out about five minutes ago. Maybe ten. Don’t be grumpy. Ecxatraaiillooonnonkrisskavafliskvan didn’t realize that it would be a point of interest for us.”

She rolled her eyes, still glaring. 

I sighed. I guess there was no point talking to her. When she got into one of her moods, there was no getting her out of it and it was just horrible to be around her. “Okay, well, I’m going to go tell the others. You should still look through the pantry. We’ll still need to know what we have so that we can order more efficiently. And Ava? Might want to drink some tea, sweet-chicks your RBF is active,” I remarked as I left the room.

She didn’t respond, unless it was an inaudible grumble.

Traaiillooonn followed. “What is RBF?”

“Resting Bitch face. Honestly, she just has chronic bitch face as well. She’s working on it. I have a higher tolerance for her. Anyway, we should get out. She does have a gun.”

“Ah, so you are a typical protective household and your lover—as the humans say—wears the pants?”

“Whoa! No. No, no. No no no. No, that’s not…oh gosh…no. Just no.”

“You wear the pants?”

“Ugh! No! We’re not lovers. She’s a friend. That’s it. That’s all. Jeez oh Pete, you’re worse than the old ladies at my church. Trying to throw me in with someone. We’re a defensive household. Only reason I don’t have a pistol is because of the noise. I’ve always been a little sound sensitive. That’s not to say that I won’t shoot one. I’m a good shot. But I’m still more likely to poison someone than shoot them. There’s Chad.” I waved him down.

He said something to his father, then jogged over. “What’s up?”

“Traaiillooonn just told me that one of his jobs is to place orders for stock.”

Chad stared blankly for a moment, then started laughing. “I’m so ready for bed.”


	4. Chapter 4

I pulled the wagon back into the yard, then dropped to the ground to rest for a moment.

Chad managed to break through the undergrowth shortly after and dropped next to me. “Oh man…that was…”

“Terrifying?”

“Or something very close to it. What do we call that thing?”

“Oh no, I’m not naming anything.”

“Why?”

“Because, I would jokingly name it Alfred or something and then everyone would go along and the future inhabitants of this places will still call them Alfred.” I shook my head, propping myself up to look back into the forest. “I can’t even decide if that was more feline or more canine. Leave the classification to the vet.”

“You’re the scientist. Don’t you have to name the plant species?”

“I’m a Botanist and Forester. It took me a long time to get those degrees. I’m aware of how to manage a forest for wildlife, and I can recognize quite a few different species, but wildlife is not my specialty. I stayed away from that nightmare. Me and wildlife…not a fantastic mix. I’m good with domestic. Wild? Touching the dolphin-rhino thing was a fluke and I was absolutely terrified.”

“Can’t most animals smell fear?”

“On earth, yeah. I don’t know about here. Maybe fear smells different here.”

“So…what’s the deal with Ava?”

“The glaring? She’s socially awkward. Finds new people annoying. Takes her a while to warm up to people. She’s kind of connected to Traaiillooonn a bit, in a writing capacity. She’s upset and on the defensive. Once she’s given some time to adjust she’ll warm up. Why? She your type?” I propped my head on my hand, turning to face him.

Chad laughed. “Yes, because that’s what we’re focused on right now. I don’t know. Like you said, it takes her a while to warm up to people.”

“Well,” I started, laying back onto my back and staring at the sky. “She is the prettier of the two of us. And considering we’re not likely to get off this planet…I’m sorry. Ignore me. I’m being stupid.” I pushed myself to my feet and grabbed the wagon handle again. “I better get back to my lab.”

“Hey, wait.” He caught my hand. “What were you trying to say?”

I rolled my eyes. “If you didn’t catch on, I’m certainly not going to embarrass myself by telling you. If you want to figure it out, try asking someone else. Just remember that I said I was being stupid when I brought it up.”

“I’m still trying to figure out why you would say she’s the prettier one.”

I pulled my hand from his. “Because it’s true. Now, seriously, I need to test these plants. If I don’t find something edible soon…or find out if burning these things could be potentially deadly.”

“No, you need to eat lunch. We both do.”

I looked over my yard, then whistled to Gigi and Sara. “Not hungry. Not yet. I’ll eat when I do get hungry.”

He nudged me. “Hey, come on. I know you’re hungry. We both skipped proper breakfast so we could get out there earlier. We should get the supply shipment soon, and you still have two chickens marked for eating if it comes to it. I know everyone is getting a little low on food.”

“We’ll run out in twelve days. Ava did the calculations after she looked at all of the food supplies. Even with some emergency provisions we set aside, either we have to find something that’s edible or the shipment has to arrive. But…I wasn’t lying. I’m not hungry right now. I just want to work in my lab. If you’re hungry, then go eat.” I ran a hand through my hair, then pulled on the wagon to get it moving again. “Thank you for helping me collect data. Do it again tomorrow?”

“I’m at your service,” he responded, taking the wagon from me. “On the bright side, we have water. And you did determine that the purple grass was edible, even if the best use was to make a sort of lemonade with it, and tea. Other than the animals, I’m not really sure why they needed us. It’s barely rained, there don’t seem to be any earthquakes—”

“Thank God,” I interrupted. “I’m from Michigan, there aren’t any earthquakes in Michigan. Not that you can really feel. I can only recall one and it was just like…no big deal.”

He chuckled. “We haven’t found an ocean or anything, so it’s unlikely that we’ll get hurricanes. When are you going to study the tree rings?”

“When I find out if any of these trees actually have rings and which ones are actually…I don’t know…wood?”

“Right, that’s probably important.”

“Just a bit.” I let him pull the wagon to where my lab was set up. “That’ll be fine here. I’ll see you around.”

Chad hesitated, then nodded and walked toward the house.

I watched for a while, then shook my head and started sorting my newest samples.

Gigi lay down outside to guard the doorway as she had grown accustomed to doing.

I tossed her one of the treats that I now kept in there, and turned to the table.

And froze.

It was a snake. Well, this planet’s equivalent. It was as long as my work table, thicker than my arm, was grey and purple with a bright orange stripe down it’s back and had a head shaped more like a rodent than any snake on earth, but without the ears.

“On second thought…lunch sounds great.” I backed out, snapping my fingers so Gigi would follow. I wasn’t about to deal with any alien-snake thing. Not happening.

Ava was in the kitchen, making a plate of food, and glanced up. “Hey, I was getting the last of the food set aside for you. Where have you been?”

“Gathering samples. Didn’t Chad come through?”

She nodded. “You’ve been…kind of out of it lately.”

“I miss home and I’ve been trying to keep busy.” I took the plate. It wasn’t completely where my head was, but it was enough truth to make her drop it with understanding. “Only way I can keep from completely panicking. You know how obsessive I can get.”

She nodded. “I’m going to do dishes.”

I nodded. “I’ll be down to dry after I eat.” I took the plate up to my room. The biggest thing the aliens overlooked was the social tendencies of humans. The need for companionship…Romance…

I was almost twenty-five. Almost. Ava and I had just moved into this place a year ago. I struggled with change, especially abrupt change.

I missed my mom. I missed my Dad driving me crazy by texting me all the time. I missed my sister. I missed my brother. I missed normal plants. I missed being able to go down to a store and grab everything I need. I mean, the aliens had routed the plumbing in the houses so that was working. But my family. My friends.

There was a knock on my door, a little awkward.

Traaiillooonn. It had to be.

I went to the door and opened it. “Yes?”

“The Pqncallaxis Dominion would like me to make a profile of all residents with my observations as well as your own and your friend’s descriptions of you.”

I tilted my head. “Now?”

“Everyone is gathered for this information giving, in the residence of the Findlay name. It is of the utmost importance.”

I sighed. “Be there in a couple minutes.”

Traaiillooonn bobbed his head in acknowledgement, and went back down the stairs.

I rubbed my forehead, then gathered my plate, notebook, and pen to head over to describe myself. Blech.


	5. Chapter 5

“And how would you describe yourself?” Traaiillooonn asked me.

Curse him.

I tried to think of exactly what I would say when describing myself. I hated that I had to go last. Everyone but Ava had been pretty honest. At least, it seemed that way. Only time would really tell how honest they were.

“Introverted,” I said to start, then thought for a second. “Obsessive, distractable, tempermental, creative, sarcastic, violent…um…” I looked to the ceiling to try and think of more adjectives. “Fearful, a little rebellious, unfocused, awkward, blunt—sometimes past the point of acceptability, I can get loud and I cry when I get mad. I hate working on group projects, not because of the project but because I have to deal with people. I chose a degree in Forestry and another in Botany because I didn’t think a career in writing or music would pan out for me. I don’t like people messing with my stuff, or my life. I hate abrupt change. I abhor small talk, it’s just a way to avoid real conversations and real topics. You betray me, then I will never trust you again. Not completely. I’m a pretty good judge of character. I’m stubborn and no one can dissuade me from my beliefs. I believe what I believe. Which extends to believing that it might be fun to rebel against the Pqncallaxis Dominion, but…since they’re our only source of supplies…it wouldn’t exactly be wise to do so. Tempting, but not a practical use of our time. Just like this is taking away from not only my lunch, but also my work.” 

Someone chortled, but hid it.

Traaiillooonn looked a little frozen. “Blunt, you said?”

Chad looked like he was choking back laughter.

“I would never have imagined from what you said,” Traaiillooonn said as he looked down at his recording device.

Snarky little beast.

“Huh, so sarcasm isn’t just a human trait.” I smirked at the table, then crinkled my nose as I looked at my cold lunch. I wasn’t hungry. Not anymore. But if the snake was still there…

“If we’re done here, I need to confer with you, Fay. That animal that died in the pool, it apparently doesn’t chew it’s food much. I found a couple intact leaves. Maybe we can learn what’s edible from the wildlife.” Patricia stood up.

I nodded. “Works for me. Though, I’m not sure if the serpentine thing that was in my workstation is still there or not.”

Andrew pumped a fist and jumped out of his chair. “I’m so there!”

Patricia smiled and shook her head. “Let’s go then. Traaiillooonn, you are finished with us?”

He hesitated (yes, we were sure he was a he—we asked). “I do need to gather all of your descriptions of each other, but given the way you all work together I suppose it would be more appealing for all of you to talk about your peers when they aren’t around to listen. Ava advised me that humans generally are able to put up with people they don’t like to work towards a greater good.”

Ava shrugged. 

Mike Findlay laughed. “Oh, I can’t even remember how many workers I had that I couldn’t stand personality wise, but who did excellent work.”

Traaiillooonn was vibrating, with a sort of humming-purring deal.

I folded my arms. “Looonn, this is your dream job, isn’t it? Studying us. Being around us. Learning our ways.”

He caught one of his antennai and played with it like I would play with my hair. “Mayhaps, Fay. Mayhaps.”

I smiled, “Well, at least one of us is happy. Meet at the lab?” I directed the question to Patricia.

She nodded.

Andrew hurried over to me. “Snake?”

“Possibly,” I responded, leading the way out the door and over to my yard. My lab was basically a tent with a couple tables, and a chemistry set, and a kerosene burner. It was sparse for now, there were more supplies coming with that shipment that was ordered two weeks ago.

Andrew went in the tent first. “Sweeet!”

I peeked in, then shuddered a bit and backed out. “Don’t die.”

“It totally doesn’t see me as a predator. This is so cool!” He sounded thrilled. He came out with the serpentine thing, holding it behind the head and by the body, being careful to keep its clawed front feet aware from himself.

I pasted on a reluctant smile. 

He laughed. “I’ll release it into the…are we calling that forest?”

I nodded.

“That’s where I’ll release it then. How’s your compass working here? Is there a magnetic north?”

“Yeah, seems to be. Well, it seems to keep a direction anyway. I’m still testing it, doing my best to map it all out. I’m not accurate, by far, but it’s better than nothing.” I felt my compass in my pocket, making sure it was still there. I had one other, not nearly as accurate as this one, but it pointed north. Mostly.

“Well, I better release this guy. I’ll let you get to work.”

“Thanks, Andy.”

“No problem.” He walked off with the serpent thing.

I went into my tent and cleaned up some of the disorder.

One of the fruits had been knocked to the ground, and was the equivalent of bruised. 

I picked it up and set it on the table, then licked the remaining juice off of my finger. Delicious.

Then my eyes widened.

Idiot. Imbecile. Stupid. 

I grabbed my benedryl and the other stuff that I would have to take if it turned out to be poisonous, and sat in a chair.

Patricia came in with some samples. “Hey, I would have thought you would be hard at work.”

“I tasted the juice of a fruit, and now I’m waiting to see if it kills me,” I told her.

Her eyes widened. “Why did you do that?”

“A moment of stupidity.”

“Did it at least taste okay?”

“Fantastic, it would make a great dessert. You know, providing it’s not poisonous.” I started cutting the fruit open to study it.

“Shall I spread these samples out on the empty table?”

“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll be over in a second.” At least there was no tingling sensation on my tongue, that was a good sign. There were no signs of allergic reaction so far.

“So, should I be concerned that you’re going to die?”

“Possibly,” I replied. “I’ll go see Bea soon.”

“What about now?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t injest that much and there should be a biological response to any toxins before they kill me. Even then, what is there to lose?”

“That’s a bleak outlook.”

“Do you have a better one? We’re never getting home. I never even got to explore romantic relationships. I’ve been on two dates my entire life, and technically the one shouldn’t count.” I went over to examine her samples.

She was quiet for a while. “Why didn’t you date more?”

“Never met any guys, especially not ones that were interested in me. Too quiet for them. I was always too quiet. Or too loud. Too shy. Too fat. Not as pretty as my sister. Everybody loves my sister. Even my friends. Not that I’m bitter. I miss her. I miss my whole family. I’m talking crazy, I’m sorry.”

“We’re stranded on some planet, far away from just about everything we know and love. I think you’re just a little more realistic than the rest of us. We’re all still hoping that we will go back to earth. Can’t really tell the kids otherwise. Not right now. Not with food so slim.”

There was that too.

I looked at the fruit. “I’m going to do something stupid.”

“Please don’t,” She objected, but it was too late.

I took a bite of the fruit. Dang it tasted good.

She grabbed my wrist. “Spit it out, Fay. Now.”

I swallowed. “Too late.”

“Fay, this is nothing to mess with. Come on, we’re going to Beatrice and Dr. McNeal. Now.” She pulled me out of the tent and away.

Everyone else was still chatting in the Findlay’s house. Even Andrew was back. 

They all freaked when Patricia told them what I had done.

I let them berate me, and test me and push me onto a cot in the room dubbed the ‘medical ward’. I let them take blood samples and ask me a million questions about how I was feeling.

They even made me sleep there overnight.

Traaiillooonn was the first visitor in the morning. “Why would you eat something when you know not whether it will kill you?”

“Why would they bring an uneven number of people? And why would they not pay attention to gender and age? Sure, they did the language check, but still. It’s foolish of them to think that we can do everything they need done.”

“Can you not reproduce with any of the males?”

“There are these things that humans live by, called morals, which say you don’t just reproduce with any male because some are married. Humans mate for life—or they intend to. But we will not just mate with any male that’s put in front of us. Not if we have any sense whatsoever.”

“Humans are odd.”

“Anything that is foreign to an individual can be perceived as odd or strange or disgusting. It’s all a matter of opinion and circumstance.” 

“You are what you call grumpy?”

I sighed. “Yes. I’m sorry, Traaiillooonn.”

“It is understandable.”

I smiled. “But I think that the fruit I ate is safe to eat. It’s a start.”

“And this excites you?”

“We’re running out of food, yes this excites me. A little hubbub, but everything is fine and dandy and I’m ready to continue my tests.” I got my shoes on. “It’s early enough that I should be able to slip out before Patricia comes and forces me to stay for observation.”

“And what makes you think I won’t stop you?” Chad asked from the doorway.

I shrugged. “Someone has to make sure I survive the trip back to that fruit tree. I need to test it more.”

“You’re insane,” He told me, but he was sort of laughing as he did.

“Traaiillooonn, Chad is the specimen that you’ll want to talk to about reproduction. After all, he’s the eligible male.” 

Traaiillooonn’s antennae twitched and he made a sort of amused sound.

Chad snorted. “And you’re not an eligible female?”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’ll probably die. I’m likely to try something else after I get frustrated with how slowly the testing goes. Besides, I don’t really want to think about that right now. Because technically, you have three choices. Ava, me, or none of the above. You could wait for Juliet to be old enough, but I’m pretty sure your brother has dibs and if he doesn’t, Kevin does.”

“I just wonder,” Traaiillooonn started, “why your gardens aren’t enough to sustain you all?”

“We had a small garden and some cornstalks from the fields around our house. They were picked clean and while the green beans are still producing some and the cucumbers still have a couple that are growing, we won’t have anything more until the squashes ripen and we have to feed thirteen people. The Ledfords had a bigger one, but we only got one harvest from the one section before one of those weird giant creatures squashed all of the plants.”

“And our garden was all herbs. The McNeals didn’t have a garden at all. We’re lucky we have what we have, but we need to supplement it soon. The chickens are helpful, but we’ll want to spend more time letting the flock grow rather than causing it to dwindle.” Chad handed me my backpack.

I smiled at him, then stood and put it on. “Thus, we’re going to go find more native foods. Got your gun?”

“Got my gun.” He gestured behind himself with his thumb.

I nodded. “Then let’s go.”

He gave a little mock bow and gestured for me to lead the way. “Milady.”

I rolled my eyes and did a mock curtsy. I was on a mission now. I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me.

Traaiillooonn calling after me stopped me.

I glanced at Chad. “This might take a while. Can you get the wagon?”

He nodded and headed that way.

Traaiillooonn caught up to me. “Apologies. However, my research indicates that Ava is incompatible with Chad. And the Pqncall—”

“Those that shall not be named,” I interrupted.

“Yes. They are concerned with the rate of reproduction. If a step toward reproduction is not taken soon, they try to force it.”

“Okay, here’s what you’re going to tell them. Not only do humans respond poorly to threats, they also ensure their own survival before they even consider something as serious as mating or the result of successful mating. Got it? There won’t be any reproducing going on until we have steady food supply, we know more about this planet and until it pleases us. Which means we also need the supplies we ordered. Got it?”

Traaiillooonn clicked, and hurried off with his communication device.

“What did he need?”

“Not him. His bosses. I gave them a mouthful. Should take them a month to chew through. Hopefully it expedites the shipment. What is with the theme these past couple of days?” 

“What theme?”

“Mating, romance, reproduction.” I shooed a chicken back into their pen. We couldn’t afford to lose any and the dogs were still inside with Ava.

“Maybe fate is trying to tell you something.”

“Then it needs to paint me a sign, because hints only make me grumpy.”

“I noticed,” He chuckled.

I gave him a little glare.

“You were pretty…honest about yourself yesterday.”

“I have to live with myself. I know me.”

“You made yourself sound pretty…disagreeable. Why?”

“I was just being honest.”

“It’s not fully you, not in my experience.”

“What, you don’t find me bluntly honest? Or creative? Or fearful?”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you afraid, except maybe when we were getting chased by that thing and when you mentioned the serpent.”

“Chad…” I shook my head. “I’m terrified. I used to be afraid of tornadoes. Now, I’m afraid that there’s going to be something here that’s worse than tornadoes. Worse than hurricanes. I’m afraid that I’m not going to be able to discern what’s safe for us to eat. I’m afraid of everything in there, because I don’t know it. I’m terrified, but I decided that first day that I wasn’t going to be stopped by my fears. And so far I’ve stuck to it, but I can’t sleep. I haven’t really eaten, and I’m afraid of what’s going to happen in the next couple of days.”

“Me too,” He whispered, looking at the ground. “Do you realize how much everyone has been looking to you?”

“Me? That’s not a good idea. At all.”

“You’re not afraid to say things as they are. You notice…everything. You stay quiet and absorb all the information then in five minutes you summarize everything in blunt terms and bring us all to reality. That first day, after you left the group, after you touched that creature, the only thing anyone could say was that you were the bravest person in this group. It took us all a couple a of days to reach your level of bravery.”

“I’m not brave.”

“Yeah, you are. The definition of courage, of bravery, is to be afraid but not be hindered by that fear. You’re the bravest person on this planet.”

I stared at him. “Why are telling me this?”

“Because you need to hear it.” He shrugged.

I stared for a while longer, then pivoted and headed for our entry point. “Right. Well. Fruit won’t pick and test itself.”

I heard him sigh behind me.

But I wasn’t about to look back.

I was afraid of what I’d see.


	6. Chapter 6

“Fay?”

I groaned and grabbed for my phone. “What time is it?”

“You wanted to meet half an hour ago.” Chad cleared his throat.

“Shoot! I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I’ll wait downstairs.”

I scrambled out of bed as the door closed.

Two months had flown by. We had finally experienced some of the weather: rain and splattering. The latter is when all of the rain just falls down at once. It’s like getting a bucket of cold water dumped on you. Perfect way to end a hot summer-like day and permanently cool the weather so that it was in the fifties and low sixties.

John Ledford had been keeping record of when the sun rose and set, and he told us that though the days had been increasing, they were decreasing as of four days ago.

Everything had been a little strange. We had received our shipment and were forced to place our next because they had discovered that it would take three months to fill and return shipments. Three months.

Thankfully our first shipment had been a large one, and everyone was starting to get comfortable with working together. Ava oversaw the organization and kept the collective inventory, as well as made sure that the kids were learning stuff. We were all still trying to figure out what to do if this place had a cold winter.

I had been able to completely determine three things that were edible, and I was almost certain that a fourth was sitting in my lab. There were also two plants that were edible as long at they were cooked in some way or other.

Patricia and her son, Kevin, were working on capturing animals (sometimes alive, sometimes dead) and testing them. The dead ones were dissected and tested for edibility, most of these were birds and smaller animals. The live ones were studied, and then released.

The giant, dolphin-rhino creatures were the easiest to study without hindering. They passed through on the strip of purple grass between all of the houses, always heading west.

And they really liked tomatoes.

I headed downstairs, twice after I had to go back to get my backpack and knife, and waved Chad down.

He carefully excused himself from his conversation with Ava and followed me outside. “Took you long enough.”

“Couldn’t figure out where Ava hid my clean socks.”

“She hides your socks?”

“It’s one of our things. I hide her bras, she hides my socks.”

“I didn’t…oh, why did I ask?”

“Because you still haven’t learned, apparently. The conversation you were having with Ava seemed…intimate.”

“Shut up, it wasn’t.”

“How does it feel to be the only eligible bachelor?” I asked in my best TV show Hostess voice.

“Like I want to go to Disney World.” He sounded a little grumpy.

“You okay? I did say I’m sorry for sleeping in, right?”

“I’m fine, and I do not blame you one bit. I probably would have slept in too if Dad hadn’t been up and at’em.”

“Doesn’t know how to be quiet? My dad was like that.”

“Refuses to be quiet.”

“Ha ha. Now seriously, are you okay? You seem…agitated. You know I was just teasing about Ava, right?”

“I’m fine and of course I know.”

“Okay, you ready for a different question?”

“You’re going to ask one anyway.”

“I never asked, but…did you have a girlfriend?”

“Oof,” He muttered. “Did not see that one coming. Um, no. My girlfriend dumped me for my best friend, who then kicked me out of our apartment.I had move back in with my parents while I tried to figure things out. That almost a year before this all happened.”

“You were still living with them? A year after?”

“Yeah, I mean, I paid a little rent, and I live in the basement. It’s got it’s own kitchen and everything. Plus I was working for Dad and it just made it…convenient. I was actually getting ready to move back out, into an apartment again. Packing everything up. And then this happened. Part of me is glad I hadn’t moved out yet, because I would have lost my family. Another part of me wonders if my moving out would have prevented them from being chosen.”

“And still another part of you wonders if surviving is even the right choice at this point?”

“No, on that front I have no doubts. Don’t you die on me.”

“Have you noticed how jumpy Traaiillooon has been getting?”

“Think he’s feeling the pressure from his bosses?”

“Something,” I agreed. Then I stopped, watching a catlike creature that was in the trees. It glided to another like a flying squirrel would, slowly getting closer to us. It had fur that was mostly blue with a green tinge, and darker spots, toes, and in something of an upside down T on it’s muzzle. All the others I had seen like it had purpleish blue fur with blue spots. But this one also had different colored eyes. One was pink and the other green. It’s long bushy tail swayed back and forth behind it. It’s ears were rounded instead of pointed.

And I had definitely seen it before, lurking around my tent in the evenings.

“Well, you’re a curious thing,” I murmured, carefully moving closer.

Chad didn’t move, he was looking in a different direction.

I glanced that way, then did a double take. “Is that…”

“Big.” He nodded.

“I was going to say deadly looking.”

“That too.”

I let my gaze go back to the little cat-like creature. “Here, kitty.” I held my hand out to it.

It inched forward and sniffed my hand, then deftly walked across my around and sat on my shoulder, it’s bushy tail wrapping around my neck like a scarf.

Chad glanced at me, then started shaking like he was holding in laughter.

“Let’s move out. We’ll have to get samples later.”

The deadly-looking thing roared.

“Run,” Chad announced, pushing me forward.

I pushed my way back out of the forest and into the yard. “You have a gun, don’t you?”

“It isn’t loaded.”

“What good is an unloaded gun, ya freak!”

“About as much good as a security dog that doesn’t do anything besides bark!”

“They’re deterrents!”

I ran until I got to the house, then turned to look. “It didn’t follow us.”

“What?”

“It. Didn’t. Follow. Us.” I breathed each word.

Chad just started laughing.

“And yet you still brought something home.” Ava was standing in the doorway. “What were you two yelling about?”

“There was this thing in there, deadly looking. And it roared. So we ran.”

“And the thing on your shoulder?”

“It’s my squishy,” I said in my little kid voice. I started stroking it’s tail.

She gave me the mom look, “Aren’t our pets enough?”

“Feel squishy’s fur.” I continued in the same voice.

“Fay, stop it.”

“Feel the squishy’s fur!”

“I swear you’re five!” She reached forward cautiously and gentle stroked the thing’s fur when it didn’t seem like it was going to bite her. “It’s very soft. You can’t keep it.”

“I’m not keeping it, it’s keeping me. Literally, it just kind of climbed on and now it’s not letting go.”

“It’s true,” Chad piped up.

“We’ll have to figure it out. Apparently the whatever domain gave Traaiillooon an ultimatum. They said that if there aren’t signs of mating and or reproduction in the next week that they’re going to—and I’m quoting Traaiillooon here—pull a Sue Sylvester-Klaine style intervention, but that they won’t release the chosen two until a child is concieved.”

“A what intervention?” Chad asked, looking seriously concerned.

“I’m not sure. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it. I know it’s something that they got from Earth.” Ava frowned at the patio.

The thing on my shoulder chirped.

I was a little frozen. “They’re going to lock us in a room with only a bathroom, send in meals. Prison style?”

“You know that reference?” Ava asked, looking a little nervous.

“Glee, it’s from Glee. That show you refused to watch. The one I started watching for the music. Klaine is Kurt and Blaine. Sue Sylvester is the devil’s less-evil and sometimes awesome assistant. The intervention involved Klaine getting locked in a fake elevator with a bathroom, they were fed meals. Sexual stimulants were threatened to be pumped into the room, but it didn’t come to that.” I shuddered.

“I vote no.” Chad looked nervous. “No no. No, no, no-no-no.” He started hurrying toward his own home.

Ava looked extremely concerned. “And you watched this show?”

“Don’t judge me, I’ve seen your Netflix watchlist,” I retorted. It was the best I had at the moment.

“You’re aware that one of us will be the one that they take.”

“I’m aware, Ava. I’ve been aware since the first week or so. It’ll probably be you.”

“Me? No way. He’s not my type.”

“How would you know, you’ve never dated!”

“Neither have you! Are you saying that he isn’t your type?”

“I don’t know! And frankly, right now I don’t even care. I want to know that we’re going to survive.Right now we’re in this mad dash to try and preserve what food we do have so that if there is a winter, we don’t get killed by it. You’ve stopped collecting eggs?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“But have you?”

“Lobelia is broody, she’s laying on a bunch of the eggs right now. Audrey is also broody, and she’s sitting on top of three eggs, hers.”

“Fingers crossed. Didn’t expect them to get broody this late in the season.”

“I couldn’t explain it to you. Dang it, Fay! I said don’t change the subject.”

“You make it too easy!”

“Fay, do you like him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even remember what it’s like to have a crush. I haven’t had one in years. I get along with him. We have similar senses of humor. I don’t know, Ava. I don’t. I told you, my mind is still in survival mode. I haven’t had a moment to myself, I haven’t listened to music in over a week, I…” Every thought flew out of my head.

She was examining me with a passive look. “How much sleep did you get last night?”

I blinked a couple of times, counting in my head. I had still been unable to sleep at four fifteen…woke up at seven thirty…

“About three hours. A little over.”

“Three hours? Fay! I know you didn’t get much more than that the night before. You need to sleep.”

“I can’t. I’ve been trying. I’ll be absolutely exhausted and I won’t be able to fall asleep. My mind starts racing and I start panicking…” I closed my eyes.

“Go see Beatrice. Tell her you haven’t been sleeping. Go, Fay.”

I sighed.

“Now, Fay.”

Man people liked to tell me what to do. I just wanted to rebel against it. I’d always been that way. The more someone told me to do something, the less likely I was to do it. Or the more insistent someone was that I do it one way, I would more insistently do it my own.

But something had to give.

I passed her and went through the house, off to go see Beatrice. I needed a good nights sleep and I didn’t know any more ways of trying to get it.

Traaiillooon intercepted me. “The Ava has informed you?”

“Yes, and I get the reference made. What do you want me to do about it Traaiillooon? It’s Chad’s choice. Whatever he decides we’ll go with, I guess.”

Traaiillooon studied me (he did that often). “Are you feeling well, Fay? Or is the creature on your shoulder causing you harm?”

“No, I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night. I’m on my way to talk to Beatrice. Is there anything else?”

His whiskers twitched. “Is Ava in your abode?”

“Backyard, I think she was playing with the dogs.”

His ears seemed to perk up and his antennae vibrated slightly. “Good greetings, Fay.” He loped off.

“Good…greetings…” I sighed, forcing myself to let it go. 

He was pretty advanced when it came to speaking our language, it was unfair to hold his slips against him.

Beatrice was talking with Chad when I came in, but she came over when she saw me.

Chad disappeared out the back.

“What is on your shoulder?”

“Squishy.”

“I’m sorry I asked. What’s up, hon?”

“The past week, I’ve averaged about three hours of sleep every night. I’ve tried epsom salts, I’ve tried night time pain killer, NyQuil, Benadryl…I don’t know what else to try and it’s getting harder to think. And function. My patience is…not fantastic. And I’ve been getting migraines again.”

“Again?”

“I suffered severe migraines all through my childhood and teen years, when I started college they backed off, but they’re starting to become more frequent again and I think it’s because I’m not sleeping, but I don’t know and I just…I just hit a wall. Did you see it?”

“Oh yeah,” She came over and supported me. “Come on, let’s get you to a bed and see if we can’t get you to sleep.”


	7. Chapter 7

Chad was watching me.

I could feel his gaze on my back.

Squishy was basking in the attention that Kelsey was giving it. She was the only one that Squishy would go to, the rest of the time he stuck to my shoulder with his tail wrapped around my neck loosely.

I was working on slowly backing away.

Kelsey gave him one of the kitty treats (he loved them), gaining his full attention.

I backed away while he was facing her and jogged over to where Chad was. “What?”

“What?”

I rolled my eyes. “You were staring.”

“Oh, sorry. I was…thinking.”

“Dangerous thing, Frodo,” I teased in a serious way.

He cracked a half-smile. “How did I know you’d have a smart-alek response to that?”

“I’m consistent?” I guessed with a shrug.

“We should add that to your profile,” He joked.

“Oh yeah.” I glanced at my watch. “Okay, I’m going back to that wetland.”

“The pool?”

“I’d tell you how wrong that is, but I still need to get away from Squishy because he’s really attached to me.” I glanced back and started moving toward the wetland.

“I can listen and walk, can you walk and talk?” He kept up with me.

“I can.”

“So, explain it to me.”

I started telling him about hydrology, specialized plant communities, landscape topography, soils, and groundwater versus other water sources

“Crap…that sounds complicated.”

“And that’s just what I can remember from the one class on wetland ecology I took. I still have the textbook, though. I still have a lot of my textbooks. Which is good, because I can’t retain all of that knowledge.”

“I’m still a little surprised about wetlands not just being the standing water…” 

“Dude, for that class I had a lab with it and we tramped all around this sphagnum bog, it was really hard, because we would stop and our boots would make a suctioning sound when we tried to walk again.” I grinned, then stopped. “Right, boots. Might want those.” I pivoted and headed back toward the house.

“Oh…um…why?”

“It’s a wet-land, and I might find one that’s…I don’t know…wetter? But I don’t want to get wet. Making sense?”

“Yes, I’ll meet you back here?”

I nodded and hurried back to my house, climbing up the stairs and then pushing through my shoes to my rubber muck boots. “Hello old friends, how big of a blister will we get today?” I ditched my hiking boots and put the muck boots on, then tromped (there’s no other way of movement in those things) down and out to the spot we said we would meet.

He came out in a hurry. “Run. Mom said she was going to order you to take a couple days vacation.”

“I can’t run in these boots.” I started walking as quickly as I could toward the wilderness, and beyond that the destination of the wetland that I was definitely using as a distraction from chemically examining plants to determine their uses, functions, and other such fascinating things that make me want a building to collapse on me.

We didn’t speak until after we had paused, much deeper in the wilderness. We were pretty much the only people who dared venture this far still. The others stayed around the edges. Patricia went in a little, but that was just to see what she would be studying.

Finally Chad sighed. “Okay, I need to talk to you.”

“Uh oh, I should I be concerned.”

“Fay.”

“What? It’s a legitimate question.” I saw the look on his face and held my hands up in surrender. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“You know, right?”

I frowned, confused. “What?”

“You know…you don’t know. I should have known that you didn’t know. Oh crap.” He was muttering to himself now.

I nervously cracked my knuckles. “Um…know what? What don’t I know? That everyone is going to die?”

“No! Well, hopefully not yet. No.” He sighed again, looking frustrated. “Fay, you know who I’ve chosen, right?”

“Um…no…but I might have been zoned out when I was told…”

“Nobody told you, I didn’t tell anybody.”

“Then how am I supposed to know?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

“God, Fay! It’s you!”

“Okay, I know I’m pretty good at guessing things and noticing things but that’s not something that I make assumptions about.”

“No!” He groaned, rubbing his face. “I chose you! I choose you.”

I dropped my clipboard.

He just looked at me for about five minutes. “Fay?”

I held up my finger. “Can you hold that thought for…just a minute.”

He rubbed his neck. “Um…sure.”

I nodded and wrestled to get my boots off, then my socks. I set my clipboard down on a convenient rock.

“What are you doing?”

“When I get nervous I get warm, and my feet always boil in these boots and if my feet are hot then the rest of me is hot and I can’t think when I’m hot,” I rambled, running both of my hands through my hair. “How did this happen?”

“What?”

“You, me, chose?” My ability to word was going rapidly downhill.

He sighed. “I know it’s not exactly romantic.”

“Didn’t expect it to be.” I parked my feet on some moss-like plant. “Also didn’t expect it to be me.”

“Fay, Ava and I can’t even hold a civil conversation. She keeps looking at me like I’m the last man on earth and she’s decided that she’s a lesbian if that’s the case.”

“She’s not,” I offered.

“I know, that’s beside the point though. I thought you would realize that I was choosing to spend time with you. That I was trying to get to know you. Which is not easy, you are…not easy to get to know because you have this front of complete openness and honesty but you’re also so introverted that half the time I don’t think you realize your thoughts on something until a few minutes after you have the thoughts.”

“Sad, but accurate.”

“And I keep finding out more areas that you’re smart in. Like seriously, why do you know all this plant stuff, but also music and cooking and even animals, but also like aliens and just people. Like, is there anything you don’t know?”

“Math beyond pre-calc and statistics. Engineering. Construction. Medicine.”

“And even then, you seem to know a lot of medicinal plants in the yards.”

“It was a hobby in high school. Music was something I did while I was trying to figure out what the hell I was doing with my life, cooking is essential to life. Animals…well, I have dogs, cats, and chickens plus we did do a little bit of animal studying because as a forester I also need to be able to discuss habitat creation and wildlife impacts on a stand of trees. I just…if something really catches my attention I remember it because I want to learn about it. And don’t knock my fix-it knowledge. My dad taught me stuff.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” He chuckled.

I took a deep breath. “Which is probably also why I know that you like your bacon crispy, your eggs fried, if you’re going to have a pasta dish it has to be lasagna but if it has ricotta cheese you won’t eat it. Your favorite color is blue, you like being outside, you probably should have been in ecology or some other nature related field. You like dogs, and are indifferent to cats, you wanted a pet pig when you were eighteen because you wanted to watch it grow fat and then eat it. Which is slightly sadistic, but I understand considering I’m now raising chickens. When you’re worried, one side of your mouth frowns. You look at me like that a lot. And…” It all came together. “I’m a complete idiot because I did notice. Cue awkward silence.” 

He was looking at me with surprise and amusement. “Have we even had lasagna since coming here?”

“First week. It was something Patricia had in her freezer. You and I were the ones who secretly fed ours to the dogs because of the ricotta cheese and I made you eggs when we went to my house to plan our expedition.”

He thought about it for a moment. “I forgot about that.”

“It was a few months ago.”

He examined me for a while. “How’s your lasagna making skills?”

“Why?”

“It’s one of my favorite meals, but my mom changed recipes a few years ago and now I don’t like hers.” He took a step toward me.

“Well, are we using canned sauce, or am I using my lasagna sauce recipe?” I asked, putting one foot on top of the other.

“Recipe.” He took another step closer.

“It’s a good recipe. Always makes too much sauce for the lasagna, but that freezes and we can always use it for spaghetti or something.” I pushed my bangs to the side again, watching him step closer.

“Cheese?”

“Mozzarella and provolone, shredded to make the layers more evenly cheesed. Cook the noodles with a little salt and oil. Eat the extra noodles just like that. Sometimes make it with pepperoni, most of the time with just ground beef.”

He was barely a foot away now. “Sounds like a pretty good lasagna.” 

I nodded. “It’s a good recipe. My grandma always ruined it by adding Velveeta.”

“Oh, no. No no.”

I nodded. “That’s what we thought, but you can’t say anything to someone whose taste buds just don’t exist anymore.”

He tilted my chin up so that I was looking at his face. “How are you so confident and yet so…not.”

I swallowed. “Ogres are like onions, we have many layers.”

He looked at me strangely. “Did you just quote Shrek?”

I hesitated, then emphatically nodded. “I can’t help it. With Ava’s sister, we could talk entirely in quotes all day. My brother used to say he was slaying orcs when he went to the bathroom. My family’s weird, her family’s weird, our families bonded over weirdness. And church.”

“Church?”

“We went to the same one.”

“Right,” he said, looking more amused by the second. “This really makes you nervous.”

“I never dated. I went on two dates and technically the one doesn’t count. I’ve never been the girl that guys were interested in. I was always the invisible girl standing next to my sister as the guys flirted with her because she’s gorgeous friendly and I’m not.”

“Two?” He didn’t look like he believed me.

“I don’t think either of them actually count completely as dates.” I made a face at my boots.

“Didn’t you go to a school that was like…eighty percent guys?”

“Something like that. I had a pixie cut. I loved that pixie cut. Only reason I grew my hair back out was because everyone thought I was lesbian just because I had a pixie cut. Oh, and lipstick is intimidating apparently. And I wasn’t exactly skinny, I worked most of that off not too long ago. It was not easy.” I folded my arms, still staring at my boots.

“You would look adorable with a pixie cut.”

“Thank you for that choice word that will ensure that I don’t do that.” I grabbed my clipboard and boots.

“Fay, you know what I mean. It would look really good on you. Adorable isn’t a bad thing.”

“Yeah, I had a bitch ruin that adjective for me.” I hesitated. “I mean…witch. Gosh, that just sort of slipped out.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use that word before.”

“Well, she was one. I just don’t normally come out and say it. Huh. I think I’m shutting down.”

“Don’t do that, we’re not done. This is happening.”

“I don’t know how I feel about that.”

He caught my hand and pulled me to him, then kissed me.

I stared at him after the contact was severed.

“Guess you’ll have to figure it out.” He shrugged, smiling.

“That was…” My hand pointed and then didn’t. “That was really good.”

He shook his head. “Let’s head back. I think you’re broken.”

“Can’t break something that was never together in the first place.”

“Are you sane?”

“Look where we are, now answer the same question about yourself. If the answer is yes, then you’re a liar.”

“And you’re back. That didn’t take long. You live in a realm that balances between substantial conversation, playful banter, and deep talks without any regard for romantic encounters.”

“Yes, because romantic encounters only actually has one mark on it’s board and it’s that kiss that we just had.”

“I guess that’s another thing we’ll have to work on.”

“Okay you need to stop.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll remind you that if we aren’t paying attention something could attack and kill one of us.”

“Right, shutting up.”

“I mean, it’s a problem if you die. If I die you just have to go with Ava.”

“Shut up and pay attention Fay. That can’t happen, Fay.” He looked deeply concerned about that outcome.

“I thought you two were at least civil.”

“Barely, the girl is more closed up than a clam. She acts like I’m the worst thing since nuclear bombs.”

“Yeah…she’s not good at emotions. Or friendliness towards people she hasn’t known for three years.”

“I even tried to talk to her about books. I’ve the chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit. I’ve read all of those other books that you and I keep talking about…I tried talking movies, and Star Trek is literally the only common ground I’ve been able to find so far.”

“Ugh, she’s a year older than me. Why do I have to tell her how to people?”

“Because you’ve successfully peopled?”

“Well, yeah. I went to college. Worked at a Taco Bell. That was hell. People were decent. Smelling like tacos, was not, and neither was dealing with the customers.”

He chuckled. “What about the food?’

“You know how people say that they can’t eat somewhere because they’ve worked there?”

“Yeah,” He looked concerned.

“I have three things that I will order from their menu, otherwise it’s a big no. Not happening. Now I want quesodillas.”

“I will second that motion.” He caught my hand and pulled me around to kiss me again. Then again. “Sorry, I had to do that.”

“Had to? Dang, I take it you’re not acting on want to right now. Come on, we’re literally not out of the woods.”

“You’re a Swiftie.”

“And nothing anybody says can change that.”

“You’re not one to be easily changed.”

“Indeed. I’m stubborn. It’s in my profile.”

We got out of the woods and I set down my boots and clipboard.

“Now what?” I asked him. Not sure where to go from here.

He folded his arms, looking at me. “I’ll make you a deal.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“I handle the romantic stuff for the first week. That includes getting you familiar with kissing me, making eye contact, hugs, and planning dates. After the first week, you handle the romance for a week, just so we can both see how you do. Then we just continue. We don’t have to do anything more right now. Just as long as we both know that this how it’s going to be. We already talk all the time. And we hang out all the time. We work together, we eat together, we face our future under alien dictatorship together…”

“Right, aliens. Almost forgot about that factor,” I said, glad my sarcasm was understood by him. Sometimes it went over Ava’s head because she didn’t always know how to do it.

He grinned at me. “And let’s face it. We make an excellent team.”

“We do.”

“So for us, it’s just adding a little more to our current relationship. Deepening the connection.” He lightly brushed my face with his hand.

Dang. Dang dang dang.

“I guess that’s true.”

“Fay and Chad…” Traaiillooonn asked, sounding a little nervous.

Chad looked vaguely annoyed. “Yeeesss?”

“There is an issue with the Squishy.”

I nodded. “Be along in a second.”

Traaiillooonn nodded, bobbing his head, whiskers and antennae twitching, and scurried off.

“There really isn’t very much privacy around here, is there.”

“Chad, that was my cue to go handle the problem.”

“So?” 

“So, maybe I should go handle the problem.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Or maybe we should ignore the problem and let others take some responsibility for once. You’ve done enough. Come on. I’ve been holding out on you. I’ve got a fully charged DVD player and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

I felt my eyes widen slightly, and a grin spread across my face. “I love that movie.”

“I know,” he said.

I bit my lip. “You don’t think it’s something super important?”

“I don’t. If it had been, there would be scream and Traaiillooonn would be hiding.”

“Point taken,” I conceded.

“So?”

I smiled, biting lip guiltily. “Popcorn?”

“Oh, definitely.”


	8. Chapter 8

“This is what you consider conquered? Just these things?” Traaiillooonn looked a little nervous.

“Yes. Steady food supplies, shelter, a form of government or system to keep order, the ability to survive year after year, and the comfort of mind that allows us to marry and possibly produce children.”

“But you haven’t even tamed the area around you?”

“But we know what the winter here is like so far and it’s not even as bad as that of lower Michigan. There’s a lake over here, and a meadow right here. The bog is about here.” I pointed to the different spots on the map that Chad and I had been carefully working on.

“And how many of these things have been checked off the list?” Traaiillooonn asked.

“Shelter,” I offered.

Chad came back with a plate of snacks and kissed my cheek. “We’re close on food, though.”

“We’re just waiting to see what a year and the seasons are like here. It’s a pretty well-known concept in the psychology taught on earth. Besides, I don’t see them down here busting their butts to make a living and hopefully surviving whatever the planet throws at them. It’s us. We’ve done all of the work. If they have a problem with it, then they’re going to have to come down here and get past all of the same obstacles we did.” I folded my arms. “We will probably never completely ‘conquer’ this planet. We hadn’t even completely conquered earth! We like leaving some things wild. And I’m an Forester. I like letting nature have control of things because that means I can study it longer.”

“You were always determined to be difficult,” Mike chuckled.

All of the humans were looking pretty amused.

“I mean, come on, we still don’t even know if it does something like snow here.”

“What is snow?”

“Frozen rain,” Juliet McNeal told him.

“This snow aside, why is it unlikely that you and Chad will not mate?”

“Well, you see on Earth, there are these things called religions. I am part of a religion that doesn’t believe in sex outside of marriage. Or drinking, though I’ve definitely considered it since coming here.” I scratched behind Squishy’s ears.

Chad nodded. “Kind of the same. Though I do drink champagne at weddings.”

“Mm, yeah, I tried it at one wedding and either it just wasn’t good champagne or I just don’t like it.”

“Back on topic, Fay,” Ava warned in almost a sing-song voice. 

“Right. Not to mention, Traaiillooonn, that in our marriage customs, our families would be present. Now, Chad’s—completely accounted for.”

He nodded.

“Mine, however, is back on earth. Probably none-too-happy that I was abducted in the first place. Same with Ava’s family. Look, until they realize that we aren’t just puppets that they can push around, and that we will not put up with this…domineering, controlling, self-serving agenda that the stupid Pqncallaxis Dominion is pushing. I refuse to let any more information pass to them until they at least let us use a video call to see our families. Or put Ava back on Earth.”

Ava’s gaze jerked to me. “What?”

I met her gaze. “You hate it here. You feel useful, and you like that…but you hate that you can’t go get a coffee or see your family. I get it. I do. You need access to books, and lots of them. I just ask that you leave the chickens.”

She was still staring at me. “Fay, you’re not serious?”

“Why shouldn’t I be? This kind of thing is something of an ecological dream for me. I get to study nature as it is before the impact of humans. I’m going to get to see how plants from earth do on this planet and be the first person to write anything about this place. No more dealing with landowners who just won’t listen to common sense. This is my chance to do something that has purpose. Oh my gosh, I do monologue.” I looked at the floor with concern.

“Only because if you don’t you’ll never be able to finish a thought,” She reasoned softly.

I nodded. “That’s true. My siblings are pretty gabby.”

Everyone was quiet.

Traaiillooonn made a weird whirring-purr sound. “Then, if you are determined to rebel against the Pqncallaxis Dominion…I would suggest you first take away my communications device.”

I grinned.

Chad took them from him. “And you won’t be getting these back for a while.”

Traaiillooonn just made a gesture similar to a shrug. “Good, it is exhausting trying to keep up with you humans. Do you ever rest?”

“At night. When we sleep.” John Ledford scratched his head. 

“That is when you lie on the things you call beds and stay somewhat still for 6 to 9 hours? That is restful to you?”

“More or less,” Walter McNeal confirmed.

Traaiillooonn shook his head. “I shall be back after I am fully rested. Enjoy your rebellion.”

“We will,” I called after him.

“Will we?” Chad asked, looking slightly concerned.

“Oh yes, because I managed to make brownies.” Ava grinned at me. “We managed to make brownies.”

I grinned back.

“I’ll go get them from the house. Fay, don’t think we’re done talking about me leaving.”

“Of course not, why would we be?” I asked sarcastically.

Chad kissed me quickly. “Would you really not marry me? Even if we’ve known each other for six months?” His tone was teasing.

“I was serious when I said I would have to be married to you before we had sex. I don’t recall saying a single word about not marrying you. Well, I said I wouldn’t marry you just because it suited their agenda, so there’s that.” I closed my notebook.

He chuckled. “You had practically that whole speech written down, didn’t you?”

“Don’t laugh, I was afraid I would forget some of my points if I didn’t write them down.” I glanced over at the kids as they played with Squishy. “That first day we got here I was determined to get back at the Pqncallaxis Dominion. When you all said that we needed to go over our definition of conquered with Traaiillooonn, I just…I had so many thoughts and ideas that I needed to put them down or I would never have gotten to sleep.”

“I still can’t believe we’ve been here for six months,” Chad said, shaking his head. Then he grinned. “It’s snowing.”

I looked out the back doors. Sure enough, there was steady snowfall. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s dangerous.”

I glanced up at him. “Does that mean you’re not going on the expedition tomorrow.”

He snorted. “If you leave without me, then when I catch up I will shoot you in the leg.”

“Wouldn’t that be worse than me leaving without you?”

“Don’t try to be logical, just don’t leave without me. You get tunnel vision when you’re studying something new. It’s dangerous.”

“You’re dangerous.”

“Yeah, right. I’m the one who runs into the unknown, walks up to strange animals, and just generally disregards any sensible fears as I try to make a living on this strange planet.”

“If you’re describing me, you’re doing int very poorly.”

“Am I?” Chad lightly tugged on a strand of my hair, then kissed my cheek. “Are you sure you’re an introvert?”

“Positive,” I answered.

“Really?”

“I’m ready to go lock myself in my bedroom and blare music while either, reading, writing, or just existing.”

“So dancing.”

“Shut up, you weren’t supposed to see that.”

He just laughed. “It was cute, and surprisingly good for a little baptist girl.”

I punched him. “Shut up. Don’t stereotype. I took ballet, jazz, and tap until I was ten, and gymnastics until I was twelve. Zumba. Wedding receptions. Cotton Eyed Joe. Cupid Shuffle.” I folded my arms, and looked away.

“I see—”

“Don’t continue. Last warning.”

He just kept laughing.

“Fay, can I get your assistance in the kitchen?” His mother, Beatrice, called across the room.

“Gladly.” I arched an eyebrow at him and hurried over to the kitchen. “Your son.”

She smiled. “You keep him on his toes.”

“Really? I always thought he was perfectly in stride with me.”

“Honey, you run. Everywhere.” She teased gently.

I started cutting the potato-like plants that I had discovered just before the winter settled in.

“Still sleeping well?”

“Yeah, well, most nights. Last night was one with less sleep but I had a lot on my mind with this meeting scheduled.” I glanced at her. “You had a reason for asking me, specifically.”

“I did,” Beatrice confirmed. “Did you realize that your friend actually has something of a romance going with Traaiillooonn?”

I stopped cutting, afraid I would cut off my finger on accident. “What?”

“Oh yes, they’re quite enchanted with each other. I’d say I was surprised you didn’t notice, but I know Ava worries about you when you’re around.”

“She’s basically family, yeah.” I stared at the plants. “So…when she was objecting to leaving it was more than just her not wanting to leave me?”

“I would say so.”

I nodded. “I’ll talk to her tonight. Alone. Hash it out.”

“Alright, just thought you should know. Also, Pat and I were talking and if you do end up getting married to Chad, which will be interesting seeing what we can put together here and figuring out who will officiate, then you could probably wear one of our dresses.”

I smiled, but I had to sort of force it. I had always said I wanted to at least try on my mom’s dress. What would she say about this? What would my sister say? My brother? My father? Would they be happy for me? Or would they question my sanity?

“Fay?”

I flinched. “Thank you, Bea. I’d love to see both of your dresses.”

She gave me a sympathetic smile. “You miss them, it’s okay.”

I nodded. “I know. Is it weird that I think I miss my little brother most?”

She laughed softly.

Ava came in with the pan of brownies. “It’s snowing. Perfect fireplace reading weather.”

I nodded.

She looked at me. “You okay?”

I nodded again. “I was thinking about home. My family. Your family. Everything.” I looked down at the plant I had been chopping.

Ava didn’t respond.

Beatrice cleared her throat. “Well, I’m going to go back out there. Keep an eye on the stove?” She cleared out before either of us responded.

Ava went to the stove. “You know…I’m actually okay staying. You’re right. I do like being busy. I like the work that I’m doing. I think I just haven’t taken the time to really appreciate the beauty of our surroundings. I found my camera.”

I smiled. “Your professional one?”

She nodded. “It’s battery died and I just never charged it again. I have pictures from around when we first came here. Pictures from before we came here. No pictures after the first two weeks. I love taking pictures. It’s one of my favorite hobbies. And look at this place?” She gestured to the window. “You’re right. We’re the first people on this planet. If we can get open communications with earth, I could probably take pictures that I took as a hobby and sell them. I could take pictures of plants and animals for you and Patricia. I sort of ran out of work after we figured out the food situation. I didn’t step up. I should. There’s still a lot that needs doing.”

I nodded.

She came over to me, lightly touching my arm so I would face her.

I did.

“You and I started this together. Now, maybe they chose our house because of you and the chickens. But I think I can help document the decision we make for the government of our little…is this a colony?”

“Village?”

We both thought about that for way too long.

“You know what I mean. Eventually we’re going to form some sort of government, and if we do things right we might even break free from the Dominion. Right? So, until we do, I’m going to stay with you. Because somebody has to make sure you and moon-eyes behave.”

“And I need our girl-talk. And our writing sessions. Our social introversion.”

She smiled.

“And you don’t want to leave Traaiillooonn.”

She blushed, and sort of glared.

“It’s weird, don’t get me wrong. But I get it. For now. You might have to explain it to me if if gets more serious.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Right, and your mom isn’t Mrs. Bennet.”

She didn’t have a response to that, except to try not to smile and to try to continue to glare.

“I know, I played dirty. Had to channel our sisters.”

She rolled her eyes. “Chop your vegetables.”

“Is that what we’re calling these?”

“I am.”

I nodded.

I could live with this.

I actually felt the tension in my shoulders relax, and I felt completely calm for the first time in a while. There were still a lot of unknowns, and a lot of adventures for all of us. I mean, in the morning, Chad and I were off to go as far as we could to the east to try and map more things. Ava was going to start organizing some sort of government and start taking photos to document what we found and brought back. We were going to fight the Pqncallaxis Dominion to try and gain freedom.

We weren’t on earth.

Being on an alien planet was probably the best reason anyone could ever come up with for missing a holiday with family.

How lucky was I?


End file.
